Nicholas is Never Late
by bbll22
Summary: Nicholas has an amazing record, he is never ever late, and that's his reason for joining Sodor! These stories highlight his beginning and an adventure against the clock, but will Nicholas ever be late? Please review, and do enjoy!
1. Nicholas is Never Late

bbll22's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Stories

**Nicholas is Never Late**

Nicholas was a new engine on the Island of Sodor. The Fat Controller had only brought him to the Island for one reason, his astonishing record. In all his time of working, Nicholas has never been late. He'd hope to keep this record up on Sodor.

The Autumnal sun shone as Nicholas did all of his duties on his first day. The sun made his black paint gleam and this made Nicholas happy. The day carried on and Nicholas still kept up his record, this made Thomas jealous, but the other engines were happy to see an engine who took so much pride in his work. When Nicholas arrived at a water station, he found Neville waiting for him.  
"Hello" said Nicholas

"Hello" replied Neville. "I've been waiting for you" he added.

"Why's that?" questioned Nicholas.

"You've been given another job to do. Derek's overheated again, so the Fat Controller assigned you his coal train. He hopes you won't be late" replied Neville

"Oh I won't!" said Nicholas. He then steamed off to be coupled upto Derek's coal train. When he arrived at the collection point, Nicholas found Derek surrounded in clouds of smoke.

"This stupid engine of mine" said Derek. He was obviously upset that he couldn't do his job. "Why do you keep overheating?" he questioned himself. Nicholas didn't want to interrupt him, so he quickly coupled upto the train and then set off into the distance. Before he was out of sight, Nicholas shouted "I won't be late!" to Derek just to reassure him. Just as Nicholas was out of view, he tooted his whistle as he saw BoCo coming to tow Derek to the menders.

"About time!" said Derek cheekily

"Very funny" said BoCo. He then coupled upto Derek and set off to the menders to help out his friend.

Meanwhile, further down the line, Nicholas was chuffing along with the coal train with only one thing on his mind. "I will not be late" he thought to himself.

"Steady on!" said his driver "We've got plenty of time to spare" he added. Nicholas wasn't sure, he wasn't a great judger of time, so this is why he never wanted to be late. He continued to steam on however, with the time always on his mind.

Nicholas was now approaching Gordon's Hill, he knew this wouldn't be easy, but he carried on. At the top of the hill however was Arthur. He was there to inform any engine that James had broken down at the other end of the hill. Unfortunately for Nicholas, James had broken down on the same line as him.

"How are we going to make it on time now?" Nicholas asked his driver.

"I don't know" he replied "But we'll have to push him along to reach the station" he added. Nicholas then steamed along to couple upto James.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked James

"Helping" replied Nicholas. He then pushed as hard as he could to get himself and James to the station on time.

Time was going by very quickly and Nicholas was now thinking he wouldn't make it on time. The strain on his wheels was immense, but he carried on regardless.

"You're a very gallant engine" said James. Nicholas didn't reply, he was too busy concentrating on keeping up his record. Signalmen had heard of what was happening, so to ensure Nicholas didn't lose his record, they let him and James through with other trains being delayed. Bill and Ben definitely weren't happy with this!

Nicholas' driver had soon noticed the station was within reach.

"Come on boy!" he shouted "Almost there!" he added. Nicholas then gave it one final push and then they were there. Awaiting them at the station was the Fat Controller, he looked very happy.

"Nicholas!" he boomed "Well done, it was a tough job anyway, but pushing James made it even harder"

"Oi" said James. Nicholas didn't say anything, his record was the only thing on his mind.

"Sir" he said "Was I on time or not?" he asked.

"You had minutes to spare, Nicholas, well done" replied the Fat Controller.

"Oh wow!" replied Nicholas. This made him as happy as he'd ever been before.


	2. Nicholas and Nelson

Lee's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Stories

**Nicholas and Nelson**

Nicholas, the engine who is never late is still keeping up his amazing record everyday on the Island of Sodor. He is becoming quite famous for his record and while most engines are happy for him, engines such as James are very jealous.  
"Why does he get all the attention?" spluttered James one morning.

"Its because he's honest, friendly, kind and very, very reliable." replied Toby. "He means no harm to anyone."  
"If you say so..." said a frustrated James. He was just about to continue his rant when Nicholas himself pulled up beside him and Toby.  
"Hello..." he said quite cheerily.  
"Hello!" replied an equally cheery Toby.  
"Hi..." spluttered James angrily. Nicholas looked at James oddly, and wasn't quite sure what was wrong with him. He seemed very nice when Nicholas had to push him down Gordon's Hill on his first day, but today Nicholas could instantly tell that something was wrong.

"It appears I have to go already!" said Nicholas as a means of leaving James and Toby.  
"That's a pity..." sighed Toby.  
"Indeed!" spluttered James sarcastically. Nicholas soon left and when he was out of view, James began his rant again.  
"Why me?" muttered Toby to himself.

Later that day, Nicholas was at the Shunting Yards helping everyone else that was there. Luckily, he wasn't against any deadline so there was no need to worry over being late. He enjoyed biffing and bashing the trucks into order a lot.  
"Be careful!" one cried.  
"Stop it now, or were telling the Manager!" called some more.  
"Oh well..." sighed Nicholas. "You deserve this after all the trouble you have caused on this Island!" he continued and he then biffed and bashed them some more. As he was doing this, Nicholas and his crew noticed Nelson the Ballast Tractor struggling with some Barrels of Diesel Oil.  
"Need a hand?" called Nicholas' driver.  
"No, I'm fine..." came a laboured response from Nelson. He looked like he was struggling a lot. He had atleast 15 barrels of Diesel Oil all hooked onto him, and even one on its own can be quite heavy, so he must have been ignoring the pain this would be doing on his wheels. Nicholas and his crew looked on at the sight and felt very sorry for Nelson.  
"How can he be allowed to take that many?" pondered his fireman. "Its too many!" but as he said that, Nelson had seemingly gained some power and then began to power away.  
"See, I'm fine!" he called out to Nicholas as he drove away.  
"Hmmm..." deliberated Nicholas. "I'm not too sure about that..."

Later that day, Nicholas moved on to help out at the Scrapyards. The Manager was identifying what could be taken to the Smelters and what couldn't. Once decided, they were loaded into trucks and taken there, but Nicholas soon realised that he was having to help out James.

"He doesn't like me, does he?" asked Nicholas to his driver.  
"I'm not too certain..." came the reply. "Let's just be useful and help out..." and with that they did. James and Nicholas didn't speak to each other throughout the time they were working and when one of them left to take their trucks to the Smelters, it was a great relief to the other.  
"Phew..." sighed Nicholas. "Now I can actually enjoy my work." but this feeling was short-lived as the Scrapyard Manager came out with an announcement.

"James has got stuck at a crossing..." he said. "There has been a Diesel Oil spill and his wheels cannot grip! Nicholas, I need you to go and help out, immediately!"  
"Yes, Sir..." replied Nicholas who went straight away. Eventually, Nicholas came into view of the crossing and could see James stuck with his trucks of scrap, Toby stuck with Henrietta and in the near distance, Nelson looking ashamed of himself as his Diesel Oil barrels had given way at the crossing and spilled nearly everywhere. Nicholas and his crew felt very sorry for Nelson as they could see that he had gone a long way with a very heavy load, and now most of it had spilled out. It was a sorry sight for everyone. Then, Toby's driver and a woman came to see Nicholas' crew.  
"We need your help..." said Toby's driver.  
"Urgently..." added the woman.  
"Why?" asked Nicholas.  
"I'm a Teacher and the children over there in Henrietta are my Pupils. We've come from the Mainland and we have to catch our Ferry home. It leaves in half an hour and we desperately need your help as Toby is stuck!" said the woman in a very anxious tone. It didn't take long before they decided to help.  
"We'll gladly do it!" said Nicholas and with that, they switched onto Toby's line, coupled upto Henrietta, switched onto the furthest line away from the Oil spill and sped away.  
"Good luck!" called out Toby.  
"You'll make it!" cheered Nelson.  
"Good on you..." said James surprisingly.  
"What did you just say?" asked Toby who didn't believe what he'd just heard.  
"Nothing..." replied James very defensively.

Further down the line, Nicholas and Henrietta were rattling along at good speed and were looking good for making the Ferry for the Teacher and her Pupils.  
"Come on, come on..." muttered the Teacher to herself as she looked at her watch.  
"We're going to make it, we're going to make it!" sang the children loudly as Nicholas powered along even quicker. Just as ever, he didn't want to be late and lose his record and he wasn't prepared to lose it today.  
"Faster, faster..." he chugged to himself as he passed by the Sodor scenery very quickly. He was going so fast that he zoomed past Henry, powered by Murdoch and even rocketed by Gordon. The children were cheering loudly as Henrietta rocked even harder than before.  
"Be careful!" she cried, but Nicholas wanted to keep his record intact, so he pushed even faster. Luckily, there was no traffic ahead of them on their line, so Nicholas could push even harder than before. His crew were determined to make it on time and by the looks of things, it would be very tight.  
"12 minutes until it leaves..." said the Teacher nervously. Her pupils however were really enjoying the ride and seemingly didn't care if they were going to be late. Nicholas did care if they were going to be late and was making sure that they wouldn't be. The line to the Harbour where the Ferry departs is always busy and Nicholas and Henrietta had to slow down. They'd caught some traffic, and they weren't patient at all.  
"Please, move!" called out Henrietta. "Important passengers. They need to board the Ferry immediately!" and surprisingly, the traffic obliged. The trains infront moved onto sidings and the cars that blocked the crossings moved out of the way. Nicholas and Henrietta then came to a stop feeling very proud indeed. They'd made it.

"7 minutes to spare aswell..." smiled the Teacher. "Thankyou very much Nicholas and Henrietta, we really wouldn't have made it without you..."  
"No problem..." sighed Nicholas who was just regaining his breath.  
"I'd gladly do it again..." added Henrietta. Both of them then watched as the Teacher and Pupils boarded the Ferry to the Mainland just to make sure that they did make it. Nicholas then took Henrietta back to Toby's shed in the hope that he was back, he was and looked very happy.  
"You actually made James smile..." he said.  
"Really?" said Nicholas. "What did I do to make him smile?"  
"You were yourself. He admires you for that. Well done!" congratulated Toby and with that Nicholas went off to his shed. However, when he arrived, Nelson was there.

"You were right all along then..." he joked. "It was too much for me..."

"Well I don't like to say, I told you so, but..." replied Nicholas with a smile.

"I know..." said Nelson. "That was really daft of me...it happened."  
"Why?" asked Nicholas who seemed very bemused with Nelson statement.  
"Because I got to see what your all about! I've heard about you and your record, and now I've seen what it takes to do that! Well done Nicholas, really well done!" replied Nelson triumphantly.


End file.
